REGIONAL ECONOMIC STUDIES PROGRAMME
About the Hybrid Seminar
As the importance of economic security increases, Japan is accelerating its efforts to meet these challenges. In May 2022, the Economic Security Promotion Act was enacted with the key pillars of strengthening supply chain resilience, supporting the development of critical technologies and ensuring the reliability of core infrastructure. Japan also confirmed its cooperation in the field of economic security with various Southeast Asian countries. With highly scalable infrastructure that positions it as a shipping and aviation hub, Singapore is also making significant investments to maintain its position as a critical node in the region. In its commitment to cultivate critical technologies, Singapore announced its National AI Strategy and National Quantum Strategy. In this seminar, Professor Suzuki Kazuto will introduce Japan’s economic security policies and outlook as well as discuss the implications for Southeast Asian countries.
This event is supported by the Embassy of Japan in Singapore.
About the Speaker
Kazuto Suzuki is Professor at the Graduate School of Public Policy at the University of Tokyo, Japan, and Director of the Institute of Geoeconomics at International House of Japan. He received Ph.D. from Sussex European Institute, University of Sussex, England. He served as the Associate Professor at the University of Tsukuba from 2000-2008 and as Professor of International Politics at Hokkaido University until 2020. From 2013-2015, he sat on the Panel of Experts for Iranian Sanction Committee under the United Nations Security Council. He is the current President of Japan Association of International Security and Trade and sits on many advisory committees of the Government of Japan, inter alia, the National Space Policy Committee of the Cabinet Office. His research focuses on the conjunction of science/technology and international relations, economic security and sanctions. His recent work includes Space and International Politics (2011) which was awarded the Suntory Prize for Social Sciences and Humanities.
Registration
This is a hybrid event which will be held at ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute (ISEAS).
Attending the Event In-person at ISEAS
To join the event in-person at ISEAS, please register via the ISEAS mobile app, available on iOS and Android via the Apple or Play store. Search “ISEAS” to find or scan this QR code.
Apple Store
Play Store
Seating capacity is limited. Do register early to avoid disappointment.
Attending the Event Virtually via Webinar
To join the event virtually at the specified date and time using your internet devices, please register here to receive your unique login link for the webinar via the zoom platform.
If you have questions for the speaker, please key in your questions via the Q&A, stating your name and affiliation. The moderator will field them to the speakers during the Q&A session.
Monday, 30 September 2024 – In this webinar, Dr Jan Carlo Punongbayan reviewed core developmental and macroeconomic indicators in the Philippines. He articulated some of the major concerns, and commented on their likely causes which are rooted both in recent major events and the Philippines’ economic history.
REGIONAL ECONOMIC STUDIES PROGRAMME
About the Webinar
The Philippines faces daunting economic challenges in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. Apart from an anemic economic recovery, the Philippines has had to grapple with a drastic spike of inflation in 2022-2023, persistently high underemployment, and slow structural transformation. Moreover, the growth and development agenda has been hampered by misplaced priorities on the part of the government (like underinvestment in human capital and overinvestment in car-centric infrastructure) as well as long-standing governance issues such as weak rule of law and chronic corruption.
About the Speaker
Dr. JC Punongbayan is an Assistant Professor at the University of the Philippines School of Economics (UPSE). He earned his PhD from UPSE in 2021, where he also graduated summa cum laude in 2009 and was awarded the José Encarnación Jr. Award for Excellence in Economics and the Gerardo P. Sicat Award for Best Undergraduate Thesis. He previously worked at the Securities and Exchange Commission, the World Bank Office in Manila, the FEU Public Policy Center, and the National Economic and Development Authority. His current research interests are macroeconomics, Philippine economic history, education economics, and development economics. JC writes a weekly economics column for Rappler.com. He is also co-founder of Usapang Econ and co-host of Usapang Econ Podcast. In 2023, his first book, False Nostalgia: The Marcos “Golden Age” Myths and How to Debunk Them, was published by Ateneo de Manila University Press. In 2024, JC received The Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) Award for economics.
About the Discussant
Professor Hal Hill is the H.W. Arndt Professor Emeritus of the Southeast Asian Economies at the Crawford School, College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University. His main research interest is Southeast Asian economic development.
He is the author/editor of 20 books and about 170 journal articles and book chapters. He has held visiting academic appointments at the University of the Philippines, Gadjah Mada University, ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, Oxford University, Colombia University, the International University of Japan, the Tinbergen Institute, the National University of Malaysia, the Rockefeller Bellagio Center, and Freiburg University. He serves on various boards and committees, including the Honorary Board (Dewan Kehormatan) of the Bank Indonesia Institute, the Council of the East Asian Economic Association (of which he is President in 2020-21), and boards at the ANU, Macquarie University, and Monash University.
He has advised and consulted to the Australian Government, the Indonesian Government, the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank and various United Nations agencies. He is also a member of the editorial boards of 12 academic journals, and a frequent media contributor. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences of Australia, and has been an official guest of the Republic of Indonesia under its Presidential Friends of Indonesia program. In 2020 he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO).
Registration
This webinar will be delivered online entirely. To join us, please register here to receive your unique link.
Please note that each registration is good for only one login at any one time during the event.
Tuesday, 3 September 2024 – Professor Evelyn Goh explored the political opportunities and strategic concerns arising from Southeast Asia’s growing economic ties with China.
Tuesday, 20 August 2024 – In this hybrid seminar, Dr Chatib Basri discussed the global economic and geopolitical trends, as well as domestic challenges, and their direction of the Indonesian economy under the incoming Prabowo Subianto administration.
Monday, 12 August 2024 – In this webinar, Emeritus Professor Peter Warr explored the rapid structural changes in Thailand’s economy over recent decades.
REGIONAL SOCIAL & CULTURAL STUDIES PROGRAMME AND REGIONAL ECONOMICS PROGRAMME
About the Hybrid Seminar
Southeast Asia’s growing economic linkages with China have generated political opportunities and strategic concerns in equal measure. This seminar provides a fuller picture of Chinese investments in Southeast Asia for those seeking to understand its significance and impacts. The speaker will draw her analyses and conclusions from her book published by ISEAS in 2023, Chinese Investments in Southeast Asia: Patterns and Significance, co-authored with Nan Liu. She will outline the carefully constructed dataset, and provide an overview of the regionwide, multi-sectoral analysis quantitative survey and analysis of key changes in Chinese investments in Southeast Asian economies over fifteen years, from 2005 to 2019. Additionally, she will provide a qualitative assessment of the geopolitical significance of these trends and patterns. This study creates a baseline understanding of more recent Chinese investments in the region. In the near future, when a feasible data series can be collated for the years from 2020, it will also allow sharper analysis of the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on Chinese investments in the region.
About the Speaker
Professor Evelyn Goh FBA FASSA holds the Shedden Chair of Strategic Policy Studies at the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre of the Australian National University, where she is also Director of the ANU Southeast Asia Institute. Goh’s scholarship focuses on East Asian history, security and international relations, and she is a leading authority on Southeast Asian security strategies. Her other books include Rethinking Sino-Japanese Alienation (with Barry Buzan) (Oxford, 2020); and The Struggle for Order: Hierarchy, Hegemony and Transition in post-Cold War East Asia (Oxford, 2013).
Registration
This is a hybrid event which will be held at ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute (ISEAS).
Attending the Event In-person at ISEAS
To join the event in-person at ISEAS, please register via the ISEAS mobile app, available on iOS and Android via the Apple or Play store. Search “ISEAS” to find or scan this QR code.
Apple Store
Play Store
Seating capacity is limited. Do register early to avoid disappointment.
Attending the Event Virtually via Webinar
To join the event virtually at the specified date and time using your internet devices, please register here to receive your unique login link for the webinar via the zoom platform.
If you have questions for the speaker, please key in your questions via the Q&A, stating your name and affiliation. The moderator will field them to the speakers during the Q&A session.
Monday, 29 July 2024 – In this webinar, Professor Ruth Banomyong, Chairman of the Advisory Board to the Thai Minister of Commerce, spoke about the evolution of the Kra Canal project from its inception as a deep canal into its contemporary landbridge form, analyzing its potential impact and obstacles.
REGIONAL ECONOMIC STUDIES PROGRAMME
About the Webinar
Many Southeast Asian countries have recently or are currently undergoing rapid structural change. Structural change is the contraction of agriculture as a share of aggregate economic output and the corresponding expansion of the combined shares of industry and services. The webinar will analyse its economic causes in the context of Thailand, a country experiencing rapid structural change over recent decades. It will look into the relative explanatory power of five potential contributors to structural change, suggested by simple economic theory, but using data for Thailand: (a) differential growth rates of aggregate supplies of physical capital, labour and land; (b) differential growth rates of total factor productivity between sectors; (c) changes in rates of trade protection across sectors; (d) changes in relative international prices; and (e) differences in expenditure elasticities of demand between final consumer goods (Engel’s law). The webinar will also examine what this means for Thailand’s future economic prospects and implications for policy.
About the Speaker
Peter Warr is John Crawford Professor of Agricultural Economics, Emeritus, at the Australian National University. He studied at the University of Sydney, the London School of Economics and Stanford University, where he received his PhD in applied economics. His current research is on the relationship between economic policy and poverty incidence in Southeast Asia. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia and is a Distinguished Fellow and Past President of the Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society.
Registration
This webinar will be delivered online entirely. To join us, please register here to receive your unique link.
Please note that each registration is good for only one login at any one time during the event.
Monday, 15 July 2024 – In this webinar, Dr Sothea Oum and Dr Phouphet Kyophilavong shared their views on the state of SMEs’ participation in the digital economies of Cambodia and Lao PDR. They discussed some of the ongoing challenges facing SMEs in adopting digital technologies and offered policy assessments and recommendations for the digital transformation of SMEs in the two countries.